Strauss stands up to be counted as England refuse to bow

Share via

FOR the top-order batsmen, today’s Natwest Series final is a clash of the underperformers. If you look only at the four meetings between England and Australia so far (including the Twenty20 international), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones are averaging between 14 and 23, with not a fifty between them. Only the one-day specialists — Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey and Kevin Pietersen — have shone, followed, curiously, by the two most classical Test batsmen, Damien Martyn and Michael Vaughan.